


Vermillion

by ShadowSelene (Shadowdianne)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 15:11:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20449157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowdianne/pseuds/ShadowSelene
Summary: One word prompt: Vermillion Asked by emmasternerradley via tumblr.You know what it means.”It didn’t come as a protest but acceptance and Regina felt her lips curve in a smile. A minute one, the kind of one that would not be an answer to anyone else but the blonde in front of her. The one that felt closer and closer with each passing second.“You do too.” Tilting her head, Regina finally let her eyelids raise, the change of lighting quick as haloed by sparks no one else would be able to see, Emma mirrored her movements.“I do?”“Yes.”





	Vermillion

/vərˈmɪliən/

* * *

“Have this happened to you before?”

Regina eyed Emma as the blonde poured a second helping of her cider before sitting in the couch in front of her. The warm golden hue of the light softened some of the sharp angles the younger woman seemed to be made of; shadows crawling up her cheeks, down the silver of collarbone exposed by the loose collar of the shirt she wore. There was no trick, however, for her jittery movements, the way her fingers trembled and jumped against the surface of the glass and Regina could do nothing but focus on those as she, too, swirled the tumbler, lost in thought. Careful as she was of not letting the drink fall, Regina was able to feel the liquid through the barrier of the glass; the temperature of the room and the cider itself similar enough for her to not dare to drink it. Gripping the tumbler as strongly as possible, she tilted her head while the younger woman spread her legs, elbows resting against her knees, middle finger and thumb the only connecting points that kept the drink from falling down into the carpeted floor.

Tongue probing her teeth, Regina let out a short sigh as she crossed her left leg over the right, the movement one a part of herself -the one that hadn’t quite gone away after her own trip over time and magical curses- still found strange. Stealing yet another glance to the younger woman, Regina dived into Emma’s green eyes, at the touch of gold that, dissimilar enough from the light inside her studio, seemed to bounce from speck to speck of blue.

Gold suited her. The thought was loud enough for her to not be able to dismiss it quickly enough, and the brunette found herself pushing her body away from her seat, the sound of her high-heels muted but still loud enough to let her breathe through her nose, nervousness taking over.

She could lie. She knew as much. She could lie and pretend so they both could feign Regina wasn’t aware that Emma would always know when she was being facetious. It would involve a far too convoluted planning; however, one Regina didn’t feel like going through. Not when her magic kept on crackling inside of her, wave after wave crashing against her diaphragm as she tried to regain her bearings.

“Everyone owns a signature.” Her voice felt scratchy against her throat and, despite her reticence, she let the cider touch her lips for a split second while she gave her back to Emma, eyes lost now on the paneling of the walls. There was just so much one could do, she reasoned; her mind’s eye conjuring not only the panicked look Emma had sported as she had knocked on her door several minutes earlier but on the lack of a ring on her hands. A ring she had learned to hate the moment she had seen it sneaking its way around pale flesh. “A magic one. Signatures do not change: they aren’t linked to the type of magic one preforms but on what one is.”

She could hear Emma moving at her back, the sound of one hand brushing against jeans with strength enough to probably leave a faint imprint on the fabric making her swallow as her body was assaulted once more with the whispering heat of deep red. Red that was too vibrant, too powerful, against her usual lilac.

She had noticed the changes, of course she had; she had noticed the vein-like traces of red that had begun to appear every time she used her powers next to the blonde. The way dirty white had transformed into pale gold next to her; the vanilla-scented trace of it transforming into something different, headier, the longer they went on practicing magic.

Which, she admitted as Emma sighed at her back, the sound of glass against the surface of the table one she vaguely registered as she crossed her free hand over her stomach, fingers grazing the fabric of the dress she wore, magic classes hadn’t been all that strange for them both ever since she had come back. They had become a refuge from her duties as a Queen, from the constant scrutiny and vigilance. She had never asked outright what Emma reason was but she still could feel it, pumping through the blonde’s system, fueling her spells.

And she could feel it once more now as she finished the remaining gulps of her drink: coming from the blonde’s body like crackling energy; tendrils and wisps of power that got tangled on hers. She refused to look down when she felt the telling signs of magic beginning to make an appearance, the red-colored glow strong enough for her to dig her fingers into her side, nails biting into her skin.

“Then why?”

Emma’s question was full of a careful nonchalance. Not exactly uncaring but cold enough for Regina to know the younger woman was trying to feign an assuredness on their current predicament the question on itself destroyed. Pursing her lips together, Regina didn’t move when she felt Emma’s warmth getting closer, steps faint against the carpet, faux leather protesting as the woman rose her arms, the creaking sound the only thing that let Regina time to prepare herself when she felt the tips of two fingers reaching for her back.

This hadn’t changed; touch wasn’t and had never been part of their interaction. Not like Snow was with everyone around her. Their touches were just as careful as everything else; a delicate balance Regina had found herself hating on. Which was precisely what made her shiver as Emma retreated her fingers, the point in where she had grazed her hot and holding a residual tingle that made the brunette feel drunk. Or, she thought while she glanced down at the now empty glass, stupid enough to maybe ask for it once more.

Her fingers were laced with red, burgundy and vermillion banishing lilac and mauve; electric currents mapping the veins of her wrist before she was able to look away with a glimpse of gold making her gasp.

She knew, she berated herself as she felt Emma’s silent presence as a second heartbeat: hers rushing through her neck. She knew the color of magic after all, the theory behind the signature, the one she had been so happy to not be like mother’s the first time she had performed something big enough for it to show between her fingers. She knew what the paired colors meant, the fact that the red filled her vision solely when she was next to the other woman, heat, and darkness rendering everything else less important as she sunk into the welcoming touch of gold. She knew.

How, however, was a thing that made her pause, afraid, unsure. Not because of the meaning on itself but of what it could potentially create, when there were too many gaps for her to fill. Didn’t she deserve it, though? Licking her lips, she considered on turning, facing Emma’s eyes as she spoke again, selfishness grasping her lungs as she breathed into the ozone-like smell power left behind. She felt ravenous in a way that made her head sway, skin tingling as she shaped the next sentence between her teeth and tongue, vowels pushing through, air making vocal cords vibrate even before she began to speak.

“Touch me again.”

It wasn’t an answer for Emma’s question and there was an instant in where Regina feared the blonde would refuse. Glancing up, she wished for a reflective surface to spy the other woman’s face, the way her eyes would probably be narrowed, sharp on their assessment of Regina’s command. Ultimately, however, she felt fingers touching her spine, between her shoulder blades, delicately enough to make her close her eyes, lost in thought as she felt gold rushing through her, turning into red, deep, rich red that made everything else pale and grey. Back arching, lips parting, she could feel each drop of red as blood, extending from the point where Emma kept on touching her with child-like fascination.

“Regina.”

She heard the plea on Emma’s words, the way the woman’s voice was strained, and Regina felt her muscles sag as electricity jumped and sparkled behind her eyelids, sharp enough to cut through her skin, embedding themselves into her bloodstream, blossoming deep inside of her.

“Look at me.”

Emma’s command held the same carefulness of before, but it was less brittle, and Regina found herself shaking her head.

“I don’t want to.” She could feel her lips moving but it was a faraway feeling, the kind of one she could disconnect herself from if she tried hard enough if she focused enough not only in the vermillion but in the gold as well, in the aura,the two of them brought to her.

“Please.”

She turned, she felt her legs moving, her breathing changing when Emma finally grasped her forearms, careful, slow. Yet, she didn’t open her eyes, not really wanting to, not ready for it.

“You know what it means.”

It didn’t come as a protest but acceptance and Regina felt her lips curve in a smile. A minute one, the kind of one that would not be an answer to anyone else but the blonde in front of her. The one that felt closer and closer with each passing second.

“You do too.” Tilting her head, Regina finally let her eyelids raise, the change of lighting quick as haloed by sparks no one else would be able to see, Emma mirrored her movements.

“I do?”

“Yes.”

Red surged forward, swallowing Regina whole. Red like blood, like life.

Like love.


End file.
